Imagine the scene …
- the local preacher …
- the weird one …
- the one dressed strangely, and who ate such odd things …
- that local preacher has been arrested …
- his outspoken message and public criticism of the civic and religious authorities has finally gone too far …
- now he has been hauled off to prison.
Now imagine this …
- the strange local preacher had spoken of someone more powerful than himself …
- he had spoken of that powerful person as though his appearance was imminent …
- then, following the arrest, there is this man proclaiming the same message, but …
- with an authority and power no one has ever seen before.
Then, finally, imagine this …
- you are busy at work …
- it doesn’t matter what that work is, but you are busy at it …
- it is the work you do every day …
- the work that ensures your regular income …
- the work in which you take a pride …
- the work that you do well, and that gives you a certain status in society …
- then, the new local preacher, comes up to you and says: Follow me.
What do you do?
I suspect that if don’t just ignore him, you might well send him away with that proverbial flea in his ear … You may even scold him for interrupting the flow of your work.
Of course, you might be curious …
- you might wonder what this is all about …
- you might wonder if engaging with this person might be to your advantage …
- you might even feel the urge to ask some questions.
I am not a betting man, but I feel it would be a safe bet to say that no matter what your first reaction may be, you are very unlikely to drop everything, get up, and follow that strange local preacher.
But … as we heard in our reading from Mark’s gospel … Simon and Andrew, James and John did just that when Jesus interrupted their work and said: Follow me.
At the beginning of our gospel reading Jesus gives credibility to John’s call to repentance. Jesus also proclaims that: the time is fulfilled, and that: the kingdom of God has come near.
Jesus also says: believe in the good news … That is, set aside our natural human scepticism and believe in him … the strange, counter-cultural preacher who calls us all to follow him.
So … let us step out of the world of our imaginations … let us step into the real world … the world in which Jesus is standing before each of us and saying: Follow me.
The call to discipleship, and apostleship, remains as real as it was to Simon and Andrew, James and John, but, unlike Simon and Andrew, James and John,
we hesitate …
we prevaricate …
we construct arguments to justify our inactivity …
Worse still, we use our ‘killer’ arguments and excuses in a way that does not only prevent us from following Jesus, but actually works against that call.
Time and time again, I see those who claim to be faithful Christians not only ignoring Christ’s call, but actively providing obstacles for others to respond in faith.
You know the sort of arguments and excuses I am speaking of …
- we don’t do that here …
- nobody will support that …
- we prefer to do this …
- we are too busy with family and friends …
- you can do that if you want, but I won’t be taking part …
and neither will I be encouraging others to take part …
The list of arguments and excuses goes on and on and on … all very logical (well, logical in human terms) but nothing to do with faith at all!
Recently, it has been said to me, that we should not be striving to work harder for God, but just trust that he will make things right.
This, surely, is just another excuse … another get-out from responding to the Christ who is standing before us right now, and saying: Follow me.
In a very few weeks the Christian year will come full circle and we will be celebrating Advent Sunday.
During the season of Advent, the secular world will be focusing on Christmas, but what will we be doing?
Will we allow ourselves to be caught up in the hurly-burly of seasonal over-indulgence, or will we be using Advent as we should?
Will we be stocking up with the annual excess of food and piles of presents that are bought out of duty, or will we be preparing prayerfully for the celebration of Christ’s Incarnation?
Will we be responding to Christ, as he stands before us and says: Follow me, or will we be too busy with those worldly matters that prevent us from responding as Simon and Andrew, James and John did in today’s reading from Mark’s gospel?
We are journeying through the Kingdom season, the time between All Saints Day and Advent Sunday. In this liturgical season we are called to recognize, acknowledge and celebrate the Kingship of Christ … we are not called to indulge in our own ‘brand’ of Christianity, a ‘brand’ which often alienates rather than evangelizes because it is not rooted in Christ, it is rooted in self.
Let us use the coming days to meditate upon Christ’s words today:
- The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near …
- repent …
- believe the good news …
- follow me.
Then, let us open our hearts and minds to the powerful message contained in those words, and let us go forth in faith … and not in our sense of certainty that we know best!!!
Amen.
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